Electrical connecting means



y 9- H. A. DOUGLAS 2,153,002

ELECTRICAL CONNECTING MEANS Original Filed July s, 1935 HM A. may l NVLN TO Y A-r TORNLT6 Patented May 9, 1939 'T ELECTRICAL CONNECTING MEANSI "Harry A; .=Dougla's; BronsonicMichu; assignor to of: :IndianaKingstom'Products Corporation; a corporation 1 Appiieationfluly 8,"1935,"Serial No."-'30,281 RenewedMarch 2; 1938 prises a portion 24;substantially "double ogee Z -:3 Claims.

My invention relates to electrical connecting means or devices, and maybe embodiedin con-* necting devices adaptedto be received by terminalpost connections, and the connecting devices, in addition, being adaptedfor the recepshaped in transversesectionpand providing generallycylindrical'loops- 25 and 2E, oppositely disposed, the free ends of the=-loops 25 and '25 being -relatively'small in longitudinallength to formtion of conductor terminals; Moreparticulariyf my invention relates toconnection means having a snap-type plug conductor. adapted to be re-"-"ceived by terminal posts, and also having re-'-' ceiving means adaptedfor the reception of con -margin, asviewed 1I1F1gli I6"4, to the crest3t ductor terminals of the snap-type.

In the drawing accompanying the. specification, and forming-a .part ofthis application, I

tip portions 2l which are" turned radially inwardly,-as--shown at28"in'Figure 2} The margins of the tip portions -2l-diverge-sharply toform a -beve1 part 29, and -from the'-'bevel parts 2% the margins of theloop diverge'gra'dually, the right of the double ogee curve, and theleft margin to a point approximately horizontal with the highhave shown,for. purposes of illustration, oneform which my invention may assume,and in' this drawing:

Figure l is a central longitudinaksectional View taken throughanembodiment of my in vention, and including, in addition, a terminalbeing shown partly in transverse. section,

est point of the loops 25, Bfiywhere it extends laterally and thena'ngularly upwardly to 'foiin I an ear-portion SI. An aperture 32is-provided in the ear 3|, the aperture 32-being of a size to snuglypassthe projection it of the plug terminal 12.

Figure 2 is a section taken on the li'hei22" of Figure l,looking inthe-direction of. the"' -be1ng-lim1ted by-engagement of the shoulderarrows,

Figure Bis. a section taken on the line'3-I3 of" Figure 2, looking inthe direction'of the arrows, v

I "termmalrecei-ving' means 23 *1s' inserted into the housing i'ig withthe "loops 25,-26-disposed within and Figure 4 is a perspectivedisassembledLvie'w the plug means and plug terminalreceiving' means,thehousing. means having been omitted? In the illustrated embodiment ofmy inven tion, a connector device I9 is adapted for cooperation with aterminal post H, or the device Ill may be used with another device it orany other suitable terminal post receiving means.

The connector device here shown comprises a plug conductor terminal 12,including a generally cylindrical portion l3 provided with an annularfurrow M, the plug having a frustroconical end l5, and extending fromthe cylindrical portion I3 is a generally cylindrical reduced projection[6.

A housing l1, here shown to be formed of insulating material, isprovided with an end wall l8, formed with an aperture IQ of a size tosnugly pass the projection I6 of the plug l2. The housing II, asillustrated, may be tubular and substantially clover-leaf shaped incross-section, the wall l8 serving as a closure for one end thereof, theother end being open. The particular crosssection of the housing I!provides communicatlng longitudinal chambers 20, 2|, and 22.

Disposed within the housing I1, is a terminal receiving means 23, bestillustrated in Figure 4. The receiving means 23, as here shown, com- Inassembling theconnector device Hi,- the projectioh it or th'eplugterminal l2 is'ins-erted into the aperture l9 in theend'wall N3 of thehousing i i, the insertion of i the projection 58 formed by thecylindrical portion-43 andreduced projection lB'with the end wall It.Next, the

- the-' 'chambe'rs 2!, 22; and the ear'portion dis- -p'osed withinthechamber wand abutting the end 'wal'l 531- As *best shown inFigu're 2;the housing I! is provided with a partial central partition 33 formed bycontinuing upwardly the adjacent surfaces of the inner peripheries ofthe chambers 2!, 22, and the partition extends longitudinally from theend wall l8 to the opposite open end of the housing H.

With the terminal receiving means 23 in position within the housing 11,the end of the projection I6 extends through the aperture 32 in the ear3|, and this end is then spread radially outwardly as by bending,pressing, spinning, or in any other suitable manner, and against theadjacent surface of the ear 3| to thereby secure the plug terminal 12,housing l1, and terminal receiving means 23 tightly together.

The terminal receiving means 23, it will be appreciated, may be formedfrom a single strip of suitable resilient, electric current conductivematerial, and the loops 25, 26, are of a slightly smallercross-sectional extent than the space within the chambers 2!, 22, sothat the loops 25, 2% may be flexed substantially radially within therespective chambers.

In Figure 3 is shown a plug conductor terminal 33 cooperable with theloop 26, although it will be understood that either one of the loops 25,26 may cooperate with the plug conductor terminal 33, or both loopsconcurrently may receive such plug conductor terminals. The terminal 33includes a generally cylindrical portion 34 provided with an annularfurrow 35, the terminal 33 having a frustro-conical end 36. The terminal33 may be fastened to a conductor 3'! disposed therein by swedging, asindicated by the swedge indentations 38. When the plug terminal isinserted, for example, into the loop 26, the frustro-conical end 33serves to cam the tip portion 2'? of the loop 26 radially outwardly,further inserting movement causing the tip portion 2'! to snap into theannular furroyv 35. Conversely, when it is desired to remove the plugterminal 33, removal movement thereof will cause the tip 21 to be cammedradially outwardly by reason of the curved surface of the annular furrow35 slidably engaging therewith, further removal movement causing thetipportion 2'! to ride over the cylindrical portion 34 and finallydisengaging the plug terminal 33.

The terminal post II, as shown in Figure l, is adapted to receive theplug terminal l2, and comprises, generally, a body 38, mounted on a baselil, and provided with a terminal receiving aperture 4|. A detent means42, suitably contained within the post II, is biased to operativeposition with respect to the aperture 4| by means of a spring 43.

When the plug terminal l2 is inserted into the aperture 4! thefrustro-conical end I5 serves to cam the detent means 42 downwardly,further inserting movement causing the hemispherical portion of thedetent means to snap into the annular furrow M. The post ll may beelectrically connected to any suitable apparatus (not shown).

From the foregoing it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe illustrated embodiment of my invention provides a new and improvedelectrical connection means, readily and conveniently constructed,assembled, and mounted on a support, and accordingly, accomplishes atleast the principal object of my invention. On the other hand, it alsowill be obvious to those skilled in the art that the illustratedembodiment of my invention may be variously changed and modified, orfeatures thereof, singly or collectively, embodied in other combinationsthan those illustrated, without departing from the spirit of myinvention, or sacrificing all of the advantages thereof, and thataccordingly, the disclosure herein is illustrative only, and myinvention is not limited thereto.

I claim:

1. Electrical connecting means, comprising: a member formed of a singlepiece of sheet-metal, opposite marginal portions of said member being.bent to form a pair of generally tubular loops permanently disposed inspaced apart side-byside relation and integrally joined by a'reentrantportion extending between said loops, the outer surface of saidreentrant portion being troughlike and of curved cross-section, saidmember including a tab portion integral with said reentrant portion andextending laterally from said trough-like curved surface so that theline of junction between said trough-like surface and said laterallyextending portion is curved.

2. A one piece connector including a pair of spaced apart substantiallyparallel tubular split receptacles adapted to receive terminals, atrough-like portion extending immediately inwardly between and formingportions of said receptacles, a tab projecting transversely from saidtrough-like portion, and integral portions joining said receptacles withsaid tab means whereby to reinforce said connector at the junctionbetween said tab and said trough-like portion, the junction beingnon-rectilinear.

3. A one piece connector including a pair of spaced apart substantiallyparallel tubular split receptacles adapted to receive terminals, atrough-like portion extending immediately inwardly between saidreceptacles, tab means projecting transversally from one extremity ofsaid trough-like portion, integral portions joining said receptacleswith said tab means to provide and reenforce the junction between sameand an aperture extending substantially parallel to the axes of saidreceptacles provided in said tab through which electrical connectionmeans may be extended for connection with said tab, said aperture beinglocated as near as is possible to the bottom wall of said trough-likeportion to permit satisfactory connection of said means adapted to beextended through said aperture and connected to said tab means, saidjunction being non-rectilinear.

HARRY A. DOUGLAS.

